End Of April News

The month of April has coming to a close and so does another week. Let’s look back on that week of April.

Top Stories:

Trea Turner Cycle:

This week in Colorado, Nationals young star Trea Turner did something only 3 other Nationals ever did. Turner hit for the cycle tuesday night against the Rockies, driving in 7 runs in the Nationals victory. Turner is the second person to hit for the cycle this year, and is showing people how good he really can be.

Carlos Gomez Cycle:

Speaking of cycles, Rangers outfielder Carlos Gomez matched Turner’s feat Saturday, hitting for the cycle for the second time in his career. Gomez hit for the cycle against the Angels en route to a 6-3 victory. Gomez hit for the 3rd cycle this year joining Wil Myers, and Trea Turner in completing this achievement this season. Gomez also joins teammate Adrian Beltre, and Aaron Hill in being the only players who’ve hit for the cycle twice in their careers.

Yankees Comeback:

Friday against the Orioles, the Yankees were down 9-1 with Yankees starter C.C. Sabathia a;ready out of the game, and any hopes of winning the game were bleak. The Yankees bats refused to go down without a fight however and as Yankees rookie Aaron Judge stepped up to the plate, the game changed. Judge hit his second home run, which was the fastest ball ever hit in the statcast era, and that ignited a flame in the Yankees offense. Down 11-4 the Yankees loaded the bases for Jacoby Ellsbury, and Ellsbury who’s not know as a power hitter, delivered with a big grand slam. This grand slam was the first in his career, and it was also his 100th career home run. The Yankees were back\k in the game but the job wasn’t done yet. After scratching a run across in the 9th, Starlin Castro came up as the tying run and he delivered a 2-run game tying home run against Orioles young stud Brad Brach. With the game tied at 11 the Yankees came up to bat in the

ir half of the 11th and after 2 walks Matt Holliday came to the plate, and to the enjoyment of Yankees fans, Holiday hit a game winning 3-run home run winning the game and completing to comeback for the Yankees.

Dodgers 3 Homers:

Down by 3 runs in the 9th, the Dodgers did something no one thought would happen. The Dodgers had Yasiel Puig leading off the inning hit a towering shot against Phillies Hector Neris bringing them one run closer. Up next came Cody Bellinger, and off Neris as well he hit a home run that hit the foul pole bringing the Dodgers within one. After back to back home runs the Dodgers still weren’t done because the next batter Justin Turner followed in the footsteps of his other 2 teammates, hitting the game tying solo home run into the left field seats. Later in the 9th inning with runners on 1st and 2nd and 2 outs Adrian Gonzalez stepped up to the plate and hit a slow chopper to third that was misplayed by Phillies 3rd baseman Mikel Franco, sealing the deal for the Dodgers as they won 6-5. This game had a true Hollywood ending.

Nationals 23 Run Effort:

Yesterday was a day to remember for Nationals fans because the Nationals put 23 runs on the board against division rival Mets. The game started with Mets ace Noah Syndergaard struggling, eventually being taken out of the game due to injury, and things got worse for the Mets from there. The Nationals hit a plethora of home runs including 3 from infielder Anthony Rendon. Along with those 3 homers Rendon drove in a franchise record 10 runs in the victory. Rendon ended up going 6-6 with 3 home runs and 10 RBI’s, aiding the Nationals to a massive victory over the struggling Mets. The final score was 23-5, and with that win the Nationals reclaimed the best record of baseball with their 17-8 record through April.

Injuries:

As with every week, injuries were a problem for some teams, so let’s go over what happened. Starting in Arizona, the Diamondbacks lost starter Shelby Miller to Tommy John surgery. Miller had 3 opinions from 3 doctors before agreeing to the surgery, and the 2015 all star will be out for the rest of the season. Miller was acquired from the Braves in a deal that sent Aaron Blair, Ender Inciarte, and first overall pick Dansby Swanson to Atlanta and has struggled since going to the Diamondbacks. After getting the surgery, Miller will hope to return to his 2015 form. Heading over to Pittsburgh where 3rd baseman David Freese was put on the 10-day DL with a right hamstring strain. Freese has had an alright start to the year hitting .321 with 3 home runs and 10 RBI’s. Freese has been a solid player and has been an impact veteran on this young Pirates teams. Heading over to Washington, the Nationals had a devastating injury when outfielder Adam Eaton ran into first and landed strangely, tearing his ACL in the process. The injury is expected to keep Eaton out for the rest of the season but Eaton and the Nationals have high hopes for a 2017 return. The Nationals acquired Eaton in the off season when they traded Lucas Giolito, the number 3 prospect on the 2016 MLB Pipeline's top 100 prospect list, showing how much the Nationals wanted Eaton. This injury will most likely be devastating to the Nationals because of the essentials Eaton brought to the Nationals lineup. The Nats will try to work around this injury by having Michael A. Taylor in center field in the Nationals lineup. Finally we’ll head to New York City where Mets ace Noah Syndergaard has been placed on the DL with a partial lat tear. Syndergaard missed his second to last start and in an attempt to come back healthy Sunday, Syndergaard pitched 1 ⅓ innings against the Nationals getting tagged for 5 runs in a Nationals 23-5 victory. Syndergaard return is indefinite as of now but a quick return might not be in the cards for the Mets.

The final week of April was a nice close to the month, and a great segway into the beginning of May.